The crypto markets have dropped due to intense pressure during the first quarter of 2018. Bitcoin went down around 50% and many Altcoins have also dropped significantly, up to of 90%. The first quarter was also filled with action and scandals including exchange hacks, exchange suspensions, increased regulations from China, Mt. Gox Bitcoin selling, tax talks, and SEC meetings in the USA. Uncertainty spread across the market due to these events with many investors unsure about a potential crypto ban or any other tight outcome from governments.

Looking back in history, quarter 2 is most of the times more bullish in comparison to Q1. Some of the exciting things to look forward to in Q2 is the including of ETS’s in Bitcoin, and the Coinbase Index Fund that will give more exposure of digital assets to investors. Some exchanges such as QUOINEX, are now using a bank-grade security system to protect data and assets. Also some nations like China seem to be moving in the right direction when it comes to regulate cryptocurrencies. China has stated that it will soon begin to regulate cryptocurrency instead of applying a ban.

Scalability is a major issue in the cryptocurrency, and we are seeing now solutions arising in regard scalability as a preparation to meet the market.

Some of these solutions are based on TestNets which will eventually be deployed to MainNets in the coming months. This will ensure a solution affecting scalability in cryptocurrency. With scalability solutions launching for Bitcoin and other crypto protocols in the near future, more participants will be attracted into the crypto market. This is because transaction will be processed faster which will also means lesser fees. This was one of the biggest issues at the height of the bull market, as it was very expensive to send Bitcoin from one wallet to another. With the Bitcoin Lightning Network the path to make Bitcoin attain new records will be opened. Space in the blockchain is also a current issue and using Schnorr Signatures will also clear space as this is a method that combines signature data together.

From a price perspective and comparing with previous values, the trend is to see more bullish action in Q2 towards Q3. During April and June of 2016, Bitcoin went up over 80% to just hit around $800. The trend was seen again from early April into June of 2017, when Bitcoin went again on a bull run, this time gaining over 170%, reaching another all-time high of around $3,000. Although past performance is no guarantee of same future results, yet it shows an interesting bull trend during these periods.

Even though many positives are on the horizon it could be that the current bear market is not over yet. Recent price increases have been met with little volume throughout Q1 of 2018, leading to high dumps. As of now, any bullish action seems to be a result of shorts covering their positions and waiting for increased liquidity to re-enter their short positions. There is a possibility until it stabilizes a bit more that Bitcoin continue its downtrend and find support at around $3500-4500. However it is expected that such price bounce back would bring a large number of buyers and the Bitcoin price could hit $35,000 by the end of Q3 2018.

It is very possible an end of the year at $35,000 per Bitcoin.

So basically by reducing costs, decreasing transaction times, and implementing ease of use, Bitcoin is looking to a bull run to suppress its last all time value of $20,000. In 2016 there was bullish move of about 80% followed by a similar bullish move in the same time frame of 170%, about double the move from 2016. If the bullish move from 2017 in 2018 can be doubled, we can see a Bitcoin right back at $15,000 and probably even higher due to the maturity and interest sparking in the space.